Cycotherapy News Roundup: Mohican 100MTB news, more news on e-bikes, flipping grief, staying weird, and reviewing Amazon's worst bike
Another dose of Substack's weirdest newsletter only slightly about cycling
Salutations.
Ohio had its elections on Tuesday. Abortions are now accessible. So is weed. And now, Republicans at the Statehouse want to change that. Oh, politics. …Sigh…
Just makes me want to ride a bike.
Sincerely,
dillon.
headlines & links
Mohican MTB100 registration open with new cats
Registration for my favorite MTB race is now open. And the director added some new categories for the 2024 race. For the first time ever, there will be a 50k option, a men/women’s 50+ category, a 60+ category, clydesdale 200 lbs+ category, and junior levels (10-14 and 15-18). And yes, racers are getting younger and younger. I’ve profiled two of them. Here’s one and here’s another. Early bird registration can be found here. Who’s joining me this year??! Learn more about it here. And here.
Need a deal on a bike?
In the market for an e-MTB? The Hyper Bicycles Hero Electric Mountain Bike is on sale at Walmart for $399. It’s typically $1,000.
E-bikes everywhere!
Speaking of e-bikes. Remember when I pointed to Audi and Porsche developing their own astronomically-priced versions? Well. Honda is now in the game. Other brands with e-bikes now include Harley Davidson, HUMMER and Jeep. Oh, and Peugeot.
Bike or motor vehicle?
How do insurance companies define e-bikes? Here’s a cautionary tale from someone who tried filing a claim after his e-bikes were stolen from his garage. “He filed a claim with his homeowner's insurance, which covers bike theft. But to his shock, his insurer denied the claim. The denial letter said his policy does not cover ‘motor vehicles.’”
feature of the week
I lost a family member on Oct. 29. A cousin. He was a wonderful human being with a big smile and contagious laugh. These words, by James McNaughton, especially “the present is against grief. It sides cruelly with what is,” speak so true right now.
If you’ve experienced loss, ever, you might consider reading this messy, beautiful piece filled with nuance.
After my younger brother died, I began to get calls from people who wanted to buy my parents’ house. As I write this, Conor has been dead for over three years. Nobody outside of family much asks about him anymore. My mother speaks to Conor on her hikes. My father talks to him early, when he putters in the garden, and last thing before bed, lauds and complines, morning and evening prayers. I lack that open line. Sometimes I nod internally to Conor’s soprano laugh; other times, in the shower, an unbidden fuuuuck escapes my front teeth. On a jog between magnolia trees leafless and blooming, I say suddenly to my wife: I mourn his lost possibility. Or I say: The present is against grief. It sides cruelly with what is.
out of context quote of the week
“So for me, being weird is being your true authentic self even if that is outside the box of norm and really celebrating that. We so often get put in boxes by people who want to have control, who don’t really have control of us and to be able to celebrate who we are without worrying about that box and doing so in the most authentic way to me, that is the full definition of weird.” — Christine Lassiter, host of the “Finding My Own Weird” podcast in an interview with Oregon Public Radio.
lyrics of the week
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